The First Word: Odyssey

On this day — the House passes their version of an austerity budget; Storify gives us a look back at the higher and lower points of the budget debate; political analysis of the House budget; the comptroller’s dime-store novel gets another look; another look at Gov. Perry’s controversial strategy for Texas’ flagship universities; and how school district cutbacks are making it more difficult to recruit college students to teaching.

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***Austere Budget Leaves August Body

Even thought the outcome was never really in doubt, it took about 22 hours of debate over two days for the Texas House to pass a budget that slashes more than $23 billion in spending. The vote was 98-49, mostly along party lines. Austin Bureau Chief Peggy Fikac reports:

“This budget is the result of the worst recession that anybody in this room has ever experienced,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie. “I know this bill is not perfect. … This budget does fund the essential services of state government within our state revenue.”

The $164.5 billion budget for the next two years – which would trim $23 billion from current state and federal spending – would have a disastrous effect on key services, said outnumbered Democrats, joined by some leading Republicans. Legislators voted along party lines, except for two Republicans who voted against it – David Simpson of Longview and Aaron Pena of Edinburg.

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***Moving Deckchairs on the Titanic

Throughout the debate, Democrats took every opportunity they could to point out what the massive spending cuts would portend for Texas’ public schools, universities and services to the poor. At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Democratic leaders compared the Republican budget measure to “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” and said it would cost far more in the long-term than it saves in the short-term.

“We aren’t really accomplishing anything except reshuffling chairs on the Titanic,” said Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston, leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

She and other Democrats said the measure — which would cut $23 billion in state and federal money from current spending, slashing human services and education — would have far-reaching, negative consequences for Texas and serve to drive more costs down to local governments.

Republicans had their own press conference before debate on House Bill 1 kicked off Friday, saying they aren’t “heartless”‘ but practicing “tough love” in the belief that living within the state’s means is the best way to ensure its economic future.

“If we don’t do something, the effects to a recovering economy of all these teachers out of work, all these state employees out of work, it will make it harder for our econmy to recover and the costs will be greater,” Farrar said, adding, “You have a feeling among Republicans that they need o be to the right of the next Republican … What they’re trying to do is placate a constituency that is concerned about that (cuts).”

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***Relive the Twitter Debate

Using Storify – I set out to create a collection of ‘as it’s happening’ tweets from reporters, activists and politicians.

The ball is in the other chamber’s court now, as the Senate Finance Committee continues to work on marking up its budget proposal. Possible Senate budget proposals don’t cut nearly as deeply as the House proposal does and Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate have openly stated that the House’s budget, as currently drafted, is dead on arrival.

So what’s next? A Senate special committee has been tasked with identifying up to $5 billion in new non-tax revenue to help offset the higher spending levels in the Senate budget. The Senate is also expected to make greater use of money in the Rainy Day Fund to help close the state’s massive budget shortfall.

Dipping into the state’s piggy bank again is thought to be politically untenable in the House and the Governor has said that he would not sign a budget that did just that. With all of these dynamics in place — it’s becoming less a matter of whether or not there will be a special session and more a matter of how many special sessions will it take to pass out a budget.

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***Notes From the Budget Debate

Two amendments to House Bill 1 probably drew the most attention were both authored by Rep. Wayne Christian, R- Nacogdoches.

The first amendment requires universities that provide space and funding to ‘Gender and Sexuality Centers,’ which provide community space and resources for gay and questioning teens on campus, must provide equal resources and funding to ‘Traditional Family Values Centers.’

While taking questions from the back mic, Christian raised eyebrows by stating that universities were instructing students on how engage in “alternative sexual practices,” and compared the state’s right to regulate that to the state’s right to prevent universities from teaching students how to build bombs. Nevertheless, it passed by a vote of 110-24.

His second amendment would have require that instruction about ‘Western Civilization’ comprise of 10 percent of the course offerings at universities. At one point during the debate he was asked by Rep. Borris Miles if Jim Crow should be included in ‘Western Civilization.’

“It should if that was part of the history,” Christian responded. “Take me as an example…”

Then, he was interrupted and asked if the murder of James Bryd (which happened in Christian’s district) should be taught as part of ‘Western Civilization.’

“Not of western civilization,” Christian responded. “Would that be included in African history? Would white, European history be included in African history courses?”

The Houston Chronicle’s Patti Hart reports that professors from both A&M and UT are chaffing against reforms backed by Gov. Rick Perry that they say will drastically curtail long-term university research and turn the state’s flagship campuses into diploma mills:

Academics at both institutions expressed outrage and dismay that Perry is imposing policies endorsed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative Austin think tank, that faculty members say will undermine research endeavors and ultimately destroy the national status and reputation at UT and A&M.

Dr. Alan Friedman, chair of the UT Faculty Senate, sensed his Aggie colleagues were “far more angry and dispirited” than the UT faculty. “It’s not that they are any more under attack. It’s that they don’t feel that their administration — at the chancellor and president level – are on their side,” he said.

Not so the UT faculty, who believe Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa and President William Powers have been “standing up for what a Tier One university should be,” Friedman said.